The latest chapter of the 49ers-Rams rivalry doesn’t officially kick off for another day, but that hasn’t stopped things from getting started early online.
Rams team president Kevin Demoff got in on the divisional action Wednesday when he took exception to a social media post by San Francisco Standard reporter, and professional Brock Purdy optimist, David Lombardi about the Rams’ approach to arriving in Australia. While San Francisco opted to make its way to the land down under last week, Los Angeles waited until the day before the game.
The differences in travel schedule have been the subject of much discussion, but one angle that Australia’s Herald Sun Sport explored was that the Niners had more time in the country to ingratiate themselves with the local population. Lombardi quote-posted the story on X with some strong words against the Niners’ rival.
“An actual ‘business trip’ would involve the Rams taking the time to actually grow their brand,” he wrote on Tuesday. “There’s a reason the Rams don’t even own LA. It’s related to their current mentality. Moving to Anaheim and then St. Louis severely hurt the cultivation of a fan base. 49ers benefit.”
It’s a fair observation to make, one that even former NBA All-Star Michael Redd posted about on Tuesday. If the idea behind the international game is to grow the league’s fanbase, shouldn’t both teams take part in connecting with the local community?
Regardless, Demoff was none too pleased with the comment from the Standard reporter and fired back a comment from his own X account.
“It’s nice to see you taking a break from your Brock Purdy obsession to start to care about how we run our team and the decisions we make,” he wrote Wednesday. “I simply can’t understand why you and the rest of the 49ers media is so obsessed with the Rams brand but I take it as a compliment!”
For what it’s worth, Demoff has addressed the aforementioned concern. Speaking with CNBC’s Alex Sherman, the Rams executive defended the team’s travel itinerary by saying, “For us, this is a year-round effort, and I would much rather win the game and grow the market the other 51 weeks a year than focus on having our players here for that week.”
Lombardi, meanwhile, did not respond to Demoff directly. Instead, he used Sherman’s post sharing his story to fire back a response at his NFC West adversary.
“And when it comes to results, based on speaking to actual Aussies on the ground in Melbourne, it’s clear that the Rams’ yearlong efforts have paled in comparison to what the 49ers have done for a week,” Lombardi retorted.
Whether this energy makes its way onto the field of the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday (though it’ll be Thursday afternoon back in California) for the Niners’ season opener will have to wait until the local morning kickoff.